Week 2 Streaming Options

It’s hard to imagine living in a world where Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees COMBINE for a total of 3 TD’s, but streaming options Jared Goff, DeShone Kizer, and Sam Bradford were responsible for 6 TD’s, but that’s what occurred during Week 1 in the NFL. Of course, the lesson here is not to overreact to one week’s worth of results and make a rash or hasty trade which may come back to haunt you in the future. Using all available data (which of course includes this article), it’s possible to find some useful, competent options at both QB and defense which may be helpful to win your Week 2 matchup.

Week 2 Streaming Options

Quarterback

Alex Smith

You might have forgotten since last Thursday, but Mr. Smith was magnificent in beating the Patriots on the road. After a slow start, he was hitting downfield receivers with more boldness and daring than we’ve seen in the past taking advantage of blown coverages and mismatches. Unfortunately, it won’t that easy in their home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles and their rather fierce front seven lead by Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox, but the secondary is an area where the Chiefs offense might be able to take advantage of since Ronald Darby, the Eagles best cover corner will be out of action for several weeks with a dislocated ankle. I would be hard pressed to expect QB1 numbers from Smith, but a finish inside the top-15 will suffice if you decide to make Smith a streaming option.

Jacoby Brissett

Brissett should get the nod over Scott Tolzien if the Colts coaching staff saw the same thing all of the viewing public did on Sunday. He offers more in athleticism, playmaking ability, and arm talent WAY more than Tolzien ever could and it’s needed going into their home opener against the Arizona Cardinals. Although he is a viable streaming option for 2 QB/Superflex leagues, tempering expectations are prudent here since Brissett was traded to the Colts late in training camp and has to assimilate the Colts playbook rather quickly. If he scores in the double digits, consider yourself very pleased with the results.

Jared Goff

I’m going to well once again with Goff since he had such a solid opening day performance at home and will need another one with the Washington Redskins coming to town. He executed well in Sean McVay and Matt LaFleur’s offense and use all three of his top receivers (Sammy Watkins, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods) along with Todd Gurley to move the offense consistently. The big question is who will Josh Norman be shadowing all over the field? This may lead to the other two receivers being targeted more and get better scoring opportunities. Goff is completely usable in 2QB/Superflex leagues as a streaming option with a solid floor and a reasonable ceiling.

Defense/ST

Oakland Raiders

This will probably be the #1 option for streaming defenses across all leagues, across all sites and the reason is very easy: The New York Jets are coming to Oakland for the Raiders home opener. The Jets as predicted didn’t show much in their opener and travel across the country to The Black Hole where they’ll face Khalil Mack, Bruce Irvin and the rest of the Raiders defense. A double digit effort in this contest is well worth it when claiming the Raiders off the waiver wire.

Cincinnati Bengals

It’s a short week, a rookie making his first NFL start (Deshaun Watson), and you’re at home. These are all positives for the Bengals defense going into a short week matchup against the Texans who will be short handed on offense due to all 3 of their TE’s in concussion protocol (as of this writing, CJ Fiedorowicz was placed on Injured Reserve) but the Cincinnati will be without Vontaze Burfict for a 2nd straight game, but will be buoyed by the return of Adam Jones to the secondary. You’re hoping that professional pride will kick in for the Bengals after that dismal performance in the home opener and they give a MUCH better effort to avoid a dubious 0-2 start and start the drumbeat about the job security of head coach Marvin Lewis.

Baltimore Ravens

This one is rather simplistic. An elite DST coming off a spectacular effort (4 INT’s, 5 sacks, 0 points allowed) went undrafted in most leagues, facing a rookie quarterback making his first road start who also took seven sacks in his NFL debut. The Browns offensive line is much better than Cincinnati’s, but that doesn’t deter me from putting them on this list because the Ravens have historically been able to put pressure on the quarterback, regardless of the strength of the said offensive line. This is a prime chance for Baltimore to start 2-0 within the division and they’ll want to lean on their defense to lead the way.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs finally get to action after an unexpected Week 1 bye due to Hurricane Irma when they have their home opener against the Chicago Bears. Due to all of the injuries on the offensive side of the ball, it would seem that the Bucs should have their way and the defense should get after Mike Glennon and force some turnovers, get some sacks, and maybe score a touchdown. A very underrated option for redrafts and DFS purposes.

Los Angeles Chargers

Despite losing in the last seconds in Denver, I’m still a believer in the Chargers DST and will place them in this article as a streaming option since many may drop them for another defense with a better-perceived matchup. And yes, I know the Chargers are coming off a short week and the Dolphins have been in Los Angeles practicing due to Hurricane Irma, but when your opposing quarterback is Jay Cutler, you know that there’s a chance that he’ll throw a couple of footballs up for grabs, plus his ball security has been questionable in recent years, so a strip sack is a high probability. When you have big-time players like Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram, Casey Hayward, Jason Verrett leading the way, the LA defense is always in play as a streaming option.